1st Concert - What's Yours?

[GOS]

By the way - I love this thread...I wish more members would post their first concert experience.....good stuff I say...good stuff.

 

[himey]

Used to love me some Toad the Wet Sprocket - saw them live once

Weird thing is - I saw the B-52s open for the Who in Orlando in 1982 along with Joan Jett opening too..........felt sorry for both opening groups - they got pelted with all kinds of stuff even though they were putting on a good show.

This brings back two memories, one good and one bad. The bad is my mom would not let me go to this concert after already buying the ticket (still have the unused ticket). I was a sophomore in high school, no adults and a long drive from Clearwater (Tampabay area). I understand now but not back then...The good memories of other concerts at the Orlando bowl and the MASSIVE CUP FIGHTS in between bands. Thousands of paper cups going from one area of the stadium to another until the cups run out. Then the other section of the stadium has all the cups to they all start flying in a different direction. Tough to explain but crazy to see.

 

[himey]

First concert was Elvis when I was 9 years old. Remember mostly a constant stream of flash bulbs which never stopped the entire show. Bad seats, bad sound. This was around 1974 I think in Jackson, MS, the one year I didn't live somewhere in Florida.

First concert with no parents was Kiss when I was 13 years old. Bayfront Center in Saint Petersburg, FL, 1979 I think. I was hooked on going to shows after that and have been to around 100 of them with Rush being the most (8)...Favorite concert was Delicate Sound of Thunder tour, Tampa Stadium in full surround sound. Best sound best show and most memorable experience. They exploded this huge pig that had been floating over the stadium all day. You actually began to grow fond of this pig because of the tailgating outside and you go inside the stadium, there is the floating pig. Show starts, gets dark and now the pig is all lighted up sweet. Now maybe halfway through the show, the line is ...I'M GOING TO CUT YOU INTO TINY PIECES...BOOM very unexpectedly the pig blows up and is gone, just vanishes, one little burning flake floating down and burning out. Just f ing nuts...

 

[GOS]

Oh man....the band I've seen the most are the Scorpions.

 

[Clint Eastwood]

This brings back two memories, one good and one bad. The bad is my mom would not let me go to this concert after already buying the ticket (still have the unused ticket). I was a sophomore in high school, no adults and a long drive from Clearwater (Tampabay area). I understand now but not back then...The good memories of other concerts at the Orlando bowl and the MASSIVE CUP FIGHTS in between bands. Thousands of paper cups going from one area of the stadium to another until the cups run out. Then the other section of the stadium has all the cups to they all start flying in a different direction. Tough to explain but crazy to see.

When I'm not working on the International Space Station I live in Clearwater

 

[Clint Eastwood]

By the way - I love this thread...I wish more members would post their first concert experience.....good stuff I say...good stuff.

I wish I could contribute..but that early concert period is a little...how shall I say it...purple "hazey"..

 

[himey]

Oh man....the band I've seen the most are the Scorpions.

I saw the Scorps once I can remember. Great show great band. Memory from show, festival seating, squeeze up to front, go to light something small and someone had turned the lighter all the way up. Almost lit the long haired dude in front of me on fire! Buzz kill. No harm, no party foul...

 

[leevitalone1]

OK, no laughing...

My first concert was actually Elvis....sometime in the fall of 1976 at Assembly Hall in Champaign, IL. That was with my parents...lol.

First REAL concert was Peter Frampton at Horton Field House in Normal, IL in 1977 (could have been 76...not 100% sure). My first exposure to stoned, tripping and drunk people. I hadn't gotten into that yet...so I was straight. But my eyes were opened....

What did you do-?? you bad boy!! :howl

 

[atrocity]

I wish more members would post their first concert experience.....

I thought I already had, but I must be confused....

My first concert was Pink Floyd in Oakland on May 9, 1977. It was the only time on the tour they played three encores, with the third encore also being the last time they ever played "Careful with That Axe, Eugene". I've heard many bootlegs of the show over the years, but none of them has Roger's comment to the effect that this was the only time on the entire tour so far that the audience actually listened. I could be wrong, but I believe he said that when they came out for the second encore. Knowing what we now know about the inspiration for "The Wall", it's really a shame not to have that archived somewhere. You get a sense of what he means if you listen to the bootlegs, though--by rowdy concert standards, the crowd is practically silent before it erupts at the end of SOYCD.

I hadn't yet fully warmed up to "Animals"--in fact, at that point my only copy had been taped off the radio and I wasn't in a hurry to pay for it--but I was blown away by the fact that the second set consisted of "Wish You Were Here" brilliantly performed all the way through in album order.

A group of people on the main floor in front of the stage had a huge banner that said "ONE OF THESE DAYS". They opened every show on that tour with "Sheep", and at first the prominent bass that begins the song made me think they'd taken a request!

It was a stunningly great show, but in a weird way that kind of screwed me up for everything after. It started on time, the audience behaved, the performance was spectacular and--despite all the props and films and elaborate lighting--everything went smoothly other than a few odd thumping sounds. I was fortunate to have seen the opening "Wall" show in Los Angeles and, though it plays OK as an audio recording, it was actually pretty annoying in person. If you've heard the bootlegs, you know that they had to stop when a curtain caught on fire and mics weren't always opened on time, but audio-only doesn't show you how often the lighting cues were screwed up. I remember thinking at the time that their ambition exceeded what could actually be done.

Arguably worse, the spectacle of the "Wall" shows became the blueprint for all subsequent Pink Floyd shows: Lots of spectacle, but little room for spontaneity. I guess that makes it ironic that I think that of all the acts I've seen multiple times, Devo was the most consistently entertaining.

 

[Quad Linda]

I like bad boys.

What did you do-?? you bad boy!! :howl

 

[zabble]

The first concert for which I actually bought tickets was Foreigner at Chicago's Uptown Theater in 1977. I first heard them through a local radio station WKQX's "midnight album" feature on which they played their debut album. Nobody had heard of them when I got the tickets, so I was able to snag 15th row center floor seats. When we got to our seats, the mixing board occupied the entire 15th row. Luckily, we were able to exchange our tickets for 8th row seats!

I would have rather seen the original King Crimson as my first concert, but at least I got to see KC's original woodwind-playing keyboardist, Ian McDonald, perform his magic on sax, flute, clavinet and second guitar. One of the best parts of the show for me was the 10+ minute version of "Starrider" during which the band kicked some serious ass and McDonald played an extended flute solo!

As the band got bigger, and original members were quitting or being fired, my interest in them severely dropped. I think now Mick Jones is the only original member. I heard that recently, Jones got really sick before a show, and that he had to have somebody sub for him for that night. So for at least one night, there was an official version of Foreigner that had no original members in it.

I just re-read this entire thread and noticed an omission I made in my post. I forgot to mention that the band's regular drummer Dennis Elliott had broken his hand prior to the gig, so he played drums with the help of another drummer alongside him. That drummer was Ian Wallace; so my first concert included not one but TWO former members of King Crimson.

Wikipedia reports that Ian Wallace played with the band briefly in 1978. That may or may not be, but he was definitely drumming with them at the Uptown Theater on May 14th 1977 next to Dennis Elliott (who had a white bandage on his hand). I remember this distinctly because I was in grade school at the time and was straighter than a drumstick.

 

[DocCasualty]

The Fifth Dimension at the Michigan State Fairgrounds in 1970. I was 12 and went with the family to cap off a day at the fair. Hey, it was the Age of Aquarius!

 

[GOS]

The Fifth Dimension at the Michigan State Fairgrounds in 1970. I was 12 and went with the family to cap off a day at the fair. Hey, it was the Age of Aquarius!

View attachment 17706

haha - nice. I used to play the heck out of this LP back in the day...on the old Zenith console...

 

[Quad Linda]

In 1997, I was in Cleveland on business. I stayed on Saturday to visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I got there before they opened. They were playing Up, Up, and Away, the Definitive Collection in the Plaza outside. It was released the following Tuesday. If you're going to own one album of theirs, this is the one: 36 tracks of pop goodness, seven penned by the late, great Laura Nyro. I rarely spin those two CD's without the music taking me back to Cleveland.

 

[bloop]

Eruption (Disco) in 1982

 

[himey]

The Fifth Dimension at the Michigan State Fairgrounds in 1970. I was 12 and went with the family to cap off a day at the fair. Hey, it was the Age of Aquarius!

View attachment 17706

The only concert I have seen at a fair I can remember was when I was 11 or 12 in Ft. Lauderdale. Leif Garrett and KC and the Sunshine Band Totally lame, even at a young age, we should have ridden more rides but it wasn't my call...

 

[The Bushmaster]

Would Bill Haley and the Comets count? Watched them playing at Romers Rest Park in Tigard, Oregon in the early 50s.

Damn!! I'm giving up my age here.

 

[himey]

Would Bill Haley and the Comets count? Watched them playing at Romers Rest Park in Tigard, Oregon in the early 50s.

Damn!! I'm giving up my age here.

It counts if it was your first. Did you rock around the clock?

 

[Snood]

:worthy:bounce

The only concert I have seen at a fair I can remember was when I was 11 or 12 in Ft. Lauderdale. Leif Garrett and KC and the Sunshine Band Totally lame, even at a young age, we should have ridden more rides but it wasn't my call...

Hiiiiiiiiiiiimey.......how could you not like KC &Sunshine Band???? How? Why? You know Snood adoration of them.

If not for KC & Sunshine Band......ummmmm there would be no Beatles no Zeppelin no Who no Stones......the list goes on :banana:

Now go sit and ponder that. Snood forgives you :banana:

 

[The Bushmaster]

Oh absolutely. My first? Let's see now....Yes I believe at the "tender" age of 11 or 12 it would be my first [open air] concert.